Ian McShane is joining the cast of Game of Thrones

By Rick Marshall August 3, 2015

ian mcshane — HBO

Crack open some peaches, Deadwood fans. Ian McShane is joining the cast of Game of Thrones.

The Emmy-nominated actor who made obscenities sound positively Shakespearean in the aforementioned Western drama will play an unspecified role in the upcoming sixth season of HBO’s Game of Thrones, according to EW. The report indicates that McShane will have “a relatively small amount of screen time during the season, yet his character is of key importance.”

McShane, who won a Golden Globe Award to go along with the Primetime Emmy nomination he received for playing saloon owner Al Swearengen on Deadwood, most recently had a recurring role on the Showtime television series Ray Donovan, as well as appearing in the Keanu Reeves action thriller John Wick, and the latest installment of Disney’s pirate franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Production is already underway on Season 6 of Game of Thrones, which is expected to blaze a new narrative trail in the saga adapted from George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” novels. With the fifth season bringing the television series more or less up to date with the novels, and the next book still being written, the television adaptation will lead the way when it premieres next year.

Early speculation about who McShane will play has run rampant, including rumors that he could potentially play one of Theon Greyjoy’s uncles, including the mad Euron Greyjoy, or possibly Victarion, leader of the Iron Fleet, while others have him pegged as cunning military strategist Randyll Tarly, Samwell’s cruel father.

Slated to run 10 episodes, the sixth season of Game of Thrones is expected to premiere in the spring of 2016. HBO’s president of programming recently confirmed that the series will last for at least eight seasons, with the possibility of more seasons or a prequel series on top of the network’s current plans for the show.

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